Spartans from the Beyond
by Andrithir
Summary: When a slipspace jump goes awry, John and Cortana ends up in an alternate reality. They continue to do the task they were bred to do, root out threats, and neutralise them. But some things that happen... unexpectedly.
1. Now, where were we?

**Chapter 1 Rewrite**

**A/N: Okay guys, this is the rewrite of Chapter one [Nah DUH!]**

**To OneEyedAvenger, ouch dude or dudette, ouch. You could've worded that review a bit more gently and formal.**

**On another note, I won't have the Spartan's of Onyx join just yet, I'll include them, well later in the story, but there will be someone appearing, very, very soon, someone sooooo unexpected. If you can guess who, you get a cookie.**

**Hint: The guy died in space… (well, that's not much of a hint because a lot of Halo characters died in Space)**

**Legend:**

/ is Cortana's input into a Command prompt

\- is they system's response/reply

**XXxxXX**

In the depths of uncharted space, the husk of a UNSC Frigate which aimlessly floated, the _Forward Unto Dawn_, and within its holds was the one of the finest soldiers produced by the UNSC; Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan John-117.

Within the cyrochamber holds the super soldier lay dormant; the chamber was dark, and obviously very cold. It had been a long time since the ship's heaters were online; long enough that there were thick layers of condensation to make the chamber look like a winter wonderland.

In front of the Master Chief's pod was a holoprojector which flickered to life. An avatar appeared on it, Cortana. The AI had teetered on the precipice of rampancy when she was at the mercy of the Gravemind, she was only pulled back by the hand of a Spartan. Now with that Spartan no longer watching over her, she drifted towards rampancy once more.

"Do you think there will be a time when warriors are no longer needed? Never, there will always be wars. All you had been through, all that you have given, fate should have been kinder towards you," Cortana said to the dormant soldier, "but fate is never kind in war, or never shows its hand,"

The avatar flickered, and sound metals creaked and groaned echoed through the ship. The AI realised something was amiss and broke out of her brooding; she increased power outputs of the Frigate's undamaged auxiliary power units to acquire a system's readout.

…_Command Prompt Log Start…_

_/ Increase output of auxiliary power units to 30%_

_\- Auxiliary power units' current output: 5%_

_\- Auxiliary power units' output is now raised to 30%_

_/ System report._

_\- Lights; offline_

_\- Normal air pressure in Lifeboats Bay 02; Cryochambers; Armoury; Infirmary; Section 02_

_\- Section 5;9;10 are comprimised_

_\- External sensors activated_

_\- Life support, operating at 20% Capacity_

_\- Cryotube life support, operating at cruising capacity: Administering Bronchial Surfactant_

_\- External sensors online_

_\- Planetary object detected, range: 1000km_

_\- Estimated time of impact, 21mins_

_/ Increase power to life supports and lights, diver 5% power to external sensors_

_\- Power diverted to external sensors. Lights online, life support and maximum capacity._

_/ Planetary object detected, reroute 5% power to Cyrostation, and engage thawing sequence_

_\- Power routed. Thawing sequence in progress, estimated time of completion, 5mins_

_\- Thawing process completed, Subject has been thawed successfully. Subject has successfully induced Bronchial Surfactant._

…_Command Prompt Log End…_

The Spartan's vitals came back to life; the cyrostasis pod began its thawing procedure.

John's eyes slowly opened, he felt that tingling sensation and it meant that he was coming out of cryostasis, and then there was also the taste of Bronchial Surfactant, what Captain Jacob Keyes stated that it tastes like lime-flavoured mucusor. No matter how many times the formula changed, no matter how many times the Spartan II had been in and out of Cryosleep, it was always a horrid yet somewhat pleasant flavour.

"JOHN!" Cried Cortana

As if on cue, John shoved the pod bay doors open, flinging off the snow like condensation that had formed.

"What is Cortana?" he asked.

"We have a problem Chief, _Forward Unto Dawn_ is caught in a planet's gravity, estimation on time of impact, twenty minutes."

"We're going to crash into a planet," said the Spartan.

"Yes, we need to bail, there's an armoury in the next room, after we get some gear we need to make a run for the lifeboats, all dropods have been launched,"

The Chief climbed out of the cryotube and retrieved Cortana's crystal core within the holoprojector and reinserted it into his amrour. A tingling mercury sensation flooded the back of his head when the AI entered the MJOLNIR exoskeleton.

"Let's move Chief," urged Cortana, a NAV marker then appeared on the Spartan's HUD, pointing towards the door to his far left.

John grabbed onto an overhanging rung, and, propelled himself towards the door.

Vibrations and the sound of metal groaning was a strong pointer that the ship was being torn apart by the planet's gravity and the ship itself, due to its greatly weakened superstructure.

The Spartan glided through the hallways with grace and precision like an eagle he also had to dodge loose rebar and chunks of the deck as explosions ripped through the frigate.

"Fifteen minutes until impact," said Cortana

"Copy,"

The Spartan reached the armour, and entered a key code into the security lock next to the doors. The system granted access and the dual doors flashed green and parted open. The super commando entered the room and eyed a weapons cache in the centre of the room.

John could feel the ship accelerate and rumble as the gravitational forces of the planet grew stronger.

The screech and groan of metal became evermore louder, it sounded like an entire fleet of trains screaming by.

The Chief opened a weapons cache and quickly took a M6 SOCOM pistol, a combat knife, MA5C IWCs, BR55HB SR and a couple of ammo packs. He then proceeded to attach the weapons to his armour's magnetic plates and the ammo packs around his waist. With the necessary task done, John engaged his suit's thrusters which propelled him back at the door he came in and towards the lifeboats.

He rounded through corridors and glided to the escape vessel.

_-Lifeboats-_

The Spartan continued to follow the markings on the floor which would lead him to where the lifeboats are, he decided to give some more juice to the thrusters to give him an extra boost.

He rounded a few more corners and boosted down a couple of hallways until he saw the sign:

_-Lifeboats Bay 02-_

John retracted the thrusters back into his armour and engaged the magnetic soles on his boots.

_/ Magnetic soles online\\_

Appeared on his HUD, the magnets then pulled him towards the floor of the bay. He ran and checked to see if there were any Lifeboats left at their launch bays.

Launch bay 01, nothing.

_-BOOM-_

An explosion tore through the hull next to the Master Chief; the shock waves caused him to stumble. Instinctively, John reached out and held onto a shaft. Regaining his balance he continued to look through the launch bays.

-_BOOM_-

Another explosion, but not as violent, the Frigate was definitely tearing itself apart.

John sprinted to the far end of the launch bays, the ship began to tremble violently.

_Ah, here's one_ thought the Spartan as he found a lifeboat still at its launching point.

John opened the hatch and entered the craft; he quickly tossed the spare ammo packs to one side and closed the airlock behind him.

"Thirteen minutes until impact Chief,"

Master Chief then settled himself into the pilot seat, it was an awkward fit since the chair wasn't designed to fit along the contours of the MJOLNIR, but he didn't care, so long as it held his weight it would be good enough.

_Forward Unto Dawn _shook violently as if it was some kind of giant baby rattle, the groan of metal and explosions filled the air.

John didn't want to linger any longer than he needed to, as soon as the lifeboat was operational, he gunned the engines and the craft blasted away from the Frigate, leaving behind a fiery trail.

"So long old girl," said Cortana

As the life boat accelerated away from the falling ship, John looked back at her; the vessel was engulfed in a red fiery ball, with a grey plume of smoke.

The Spartan steered the lifeboat away from _Dawn's_ trajectory, but it wasn't enough. _Dawn _had suffered so much damage that its super structure was greatly weakened, which meant large chunks of the hull and various other sections were tearing off like an onion being peeled.

"We're coming in too fast Chief," cried Cortana

John gritted his teeth as he tried to smooth out the lifeboat's trajectory.

"Engaging airbrakes," said John as his fingers tapped a button on the console.

The Spartan lurched slightly forward as the lifeboat slowed down. He could see outside, the blackness of space dissipating into the blue skies, John and Cortana were entering the lower atmosphere of the unknown planet.

With the lifeboat slowing down and _Dawn's_ continued acceleration, the frigate overtook the smaller craft, leaving behind a trail of smoke and falling debris in its wake. However the lifeboat was still moving faster than the fragments from _Dawn_, which meant that John had to weave around the debris, if he could.

The lifeboat was moving too fast, the Spartan had barely any control over the tiny vessel.

This greatly agitated the Spartan, and to add more salt to the wound, he couldn't break off his current trajectory, even if he wanted to. Obviously he had near zero control of the craft, lifeboat descents were always tricky, one wrong move and the lifeboat could plummet like a rock, and he was relying on his exceptionally good luck to get him this far, after all he couldn't see jack-all in the smoke.

"Incoming!' yelled Cortana as a huge chunk of the Frigate's hull was torn off the ship and was drifting in the path of the lifeboat.

John managed to veer away quickly, but the smoke obscured too much of the torn off hull, the debris then collided and scrapped along the lifeboat's hull. The small vessel was violently tossed into a dive by the impact. _Dawn _screeched overhead towards the planet's surface, the lifeboat and the Frigate were now on totally different trajectories.

The AI and John could see that most of the Frigate's hull was gone, revealing the superstructure which was glowing red and white hot due to the friction.

The alarms in the lifeboat started blaring. The Spartan glanced down on the console; two out of four airbrakes were torn off, and most of the manoeuvring thrusters on the left side were extensively damaged.

The lifeboat started to enter a tumbling dive as it was picked up by the strong air currents, John fought to keep the craft under control but it was too great for him.

"Why didn't you thaw me out earlier? Instead of twenty minutes before impact," said the Spartan, clearly annoyed by the close call.

"Chief, when you've got half of a much damaged ship and barely any power left, the sensors are going to be very, very glitch or slow," retorted the AI.

The stress of the tumbling craft and the air currents proved too much for the remaining two airbrakes, which then broke off. The lifeboat began to accelerate since there were no longer any airbrakes to slow its descent. Sensors indicated that the small craft eventually broke free off the air currents, but the alarms on the lifeboat continued to blare, as the boat was still out of control.

John's fingers danced across the console and engaged the remaining thrusters to manoeuvre the craft back into a safe trajectory. The lifeboat managed to level out but it was still accelerating. The Spartan thought of bailing with Cortana but there were no parachutes on board.

The lifeboat passed through a cloud, John and Cortana knew that they were nearing the ground.

"Now or never Chief, punch it," said Cortana with great urgency.

The Spartan engaged the reverse thrusters, the lifeboat shook violently. In the distance, _Forward Unto Dawn_ had crashed into a mountain side, but that was not of John's concern, right now he was concentrating on landing the lifeboat into a blue-green forest below.

The reverse thrusters were burning out at full, and the lifeboat skimming across the tree tops while snapping off branches and searing some of the leaves as well.

"This is going to be messy," gritted John.

A high pitched scream came as the air rushed pass. The vessel came closer to the ground, the lifeboat crashed through the canopy and into the soil below. The small vessel burned and carved its way through the forest, knocking over trees and crushing small bushes in its path. John felt the impact of the crashlanding and heard the cacophony of the chaos that was happening; he was then thrown forward by the impact and smashed into the console. A wave of heat lapsed into him, and the Spartan felt his forearms blister.

**XXxxXX**

John breathed heavily; his heart was thumping in his ears. The Spartan reorientated himself and pulled away from the crushed console, a wave of pain shot through his body.

He tasted blood in his mouth, and there was blood smeared all over the inside of his cracked visor. The alarm droned in his head which indicated his shields were fully depleted.

"Chief are you alright?" asked the AI with great concern.

"Why do you need to ask? You can read my status from the biofeed,"

"Touchy, but that's the problem, the crash fragged the armour pretty badly, so the biofeed is offline, your suit is breached and the med system is out. Good thing is, I'm online, the shields are online, the hydraulics systems are online, the motion sensors are online, and the com channels are working and….. I'm online." Said the AI trying to cheer up the Spartan.

No ordinary human should have survived that crash, not even an Elite or Brute or Hunter could have survived that crash, hell not even a Spartan II should have been able to survive that crash, but John did.

"Let's move," groaned John, thick with determination to live.

The Spartan looked around the lifeboat, some of the chairs were torn out and the airlock wide open.

He then pulled himself up, but his body screamed in protest. The Spartan gritted his teeth as he walked forward, placing one foot in front of the other, again, and again. His body's cries of protest only amplified, it demanded rest.

Outside John could see that the lifeboat had carved a straight trench through the forest and the soil, around him stood tall trees with leaves that were of gold and red. _Probably Autumn here,_ John thought.

The Spartan grabbed his gear and walked a couple steps forward, but his adrenaline wore out, and his body was catching up to his mind. John slumped to the brown soil like a puppet with no strings and felt the embrace of the darkness.

**XXxxXX**

He was in a darkened room, and by the looks of things, a beautifully decorated room. The walls were of a cream colour, accentuating the orangey yellow curtains, a couple of sofas and a glass table in the centre.

John woke up, and felt a tingling feeling across his body.

His senses then came back to him and the Spartan realised that he was no longer in his armour, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and he was lying in a bed with thick blankets. If he wasn't so concerned with where he was, John would have to say, that they bed he was in, was pretty damn comfortable.

His eyes scanned the room, to give him a clue of where he was. The first thought that came to mind was that he was in a UNSC Infirmary, but he quickly ruled out that notion, mainly because that the medical wards don't have five-star style, luxurious rooms.

"Wakey, wakey sleepy head," smiled Cortana as she appeared on a nearby holo-projector.

"Where am I?" asked John groggily.

"Hmm, let's get some natural light in," said Cortana.

The curtains then opened and revealed a spectacular seaside view. John sat in his bed to take in the lovely scenery, there was a white sandy beach below, and along the coast, Forerunner structures dominated the landscape. Some were like glass pyramids with huge "steps" running along its length, apparently those are balconies, and on the balconies were plant life and birds. Other buildings were towering sky scrapers, with under glow and glyphs, and in the distance, was a Forerunner Citadel.

"Ah Reclaimer, I am 2388 Archivist," this voice sounded exactly the same as 343 Guilty Spark, "it is good to see you awake,"

The voice belonged to a monitor, but unlike Spark, this monitor didn't have a quirky personality, it was direct and reserved, behind the monitor, seven sentinels towed the most advance, sleek, fearsome armour John had ever seen.

"During your stay here, I have injected bio-Nano-bots into your body," the monitor said, cutting to the chase "these bio-nanites accelerate your body's healing process, boosts your immune system, increases your stamina, and they also prevent telomere degeneration and halt your ageing, allowing you to perform your duties indefinitely. An extra bonus to these bio-nanites is that in the event that you lose some, they can replenish their numbers by utilising the nutrients you consume,"

John looked down at his palms then back to the Monitor.

"While you were recovering, I had prepared a Forerunner Dreadnought _Majestic_, for your departure. _Majestic_ has enough ordinances and information to return you to the domain of humans. Now I must leave, there are matters I must tend to; your construct here will inform you about your combat skin."

With that, the monitor left, and Cortana took over and briefed John on the techspecs of the new armour.

The armour had a combined look of the MJOLNIR Mark VI Commando Variant and a Forerunner Combat Skin. The helmet was UA/FC-I[2], and the Reactive Metal Liquid Crystal Layer was replaced by Reactive Metal Liquid Positronic Brain layer, this was due to Cortana's need for more leg room.

Hydrostatic gel had been greatly improved using Forerunner formula to increase its ability to absorb shock and cool the armour.

The plates were "interconnected" at the joints now, instead of being separated like the previous MJOLNIR versions. The plates were connected at the joints by hard point plates which slide over each other whenever the occupant moved. This was to reduce the number of chinks and grab on points on the armour. It also increased the durability of the armour at the joints and prevented the user from dislocating a limb during combat.

The power cells had been replaced by the more superior and advanced Forerunner version, a Next-Gen Fusion-Plasma Hybrid Power System. The reason for this being was that the armour now utilised two layers of energy shields and possessed active camouflage.

Double layer of energy shielding -of equal strength- meant that if one layer was completely drained, the second layer would kick in, become the primary shields and protect the user while the shield generators for the first layer replenished itself and become the secondary layer. In addition, the shields were now able to be manipulated to a very limited extent.

The active camouflage system is a phased array optic system, which projects a three-dimensional background around the wearer, effectively bending light. A good thing to note would be that the system would not be fully compromised if the user fired their weapons or hit by enemy fire, only a small section in the immediate effected area would fail, but recover quickly.

Both systems required a great deal of power, and only the Forerunner power cells could cut it.

Next feature was that the armour possessed atmospheric insertion capabilities, effectively removing the need for the Spartan to use a drop pod for high altitude insertions; this also means that the armour possesses Oxygen rebreathers, effectively removing the need for cumbersome oxygen tanks.

The final addition to the combat skin is self-repairing Nanites, which effectively reduces the need for armour repairs, allowing the suit to be used for longer periods of time.

**XXxxXX**

John strode across the vast Forerunner ports with Archivist floating next to him, the background was dominated by the perfectly preserved skyline of the Forerunner city and in the foreground was hundreds if not thousands of docked ships of various classes.

It felt great to be back in armour again, the suit is impervious to most small-arms fire and could take a huge beating from heavy weapons before showing the slightest sign of buckling, if anyone wanted to kill him, they needed at least a couple of tanks. The Spartan liked the fact he could take a tank head-on in his armour, but he'd refrain from doing so, because being hit by a tungsten tipped shell is going to be fun at all. Another thing he liked about the suit was the greatly improved motion sensor which possessed sonar, this would allow him to track friend or foe alike and see their exact positions, as they would be outlined on his HUD.

"What is this place?" asked John

"This is planet G617e, known as _Riverside_ to the common population," the monitor replied, "it is located near ground zero of the first Forerunner-Flood contact, which was at G617g, Seaward. Riverside acted as a research facility during the early days of the Forerunner-Flood War, when it was consumed by the Flood, the planet was bombarded. After the firing of the Halo Array, my instructions were to restore the planet and aid any humans that may come my way."

The Spartan boarded a gondola which dropped him off at_ Majestic_'s hangar bay. Inside the hangar bay were hundreds of docked aircrafts of various classes, tanks and warthog variants. And there were also numerous Onyx Sentinels and Engineers (Huragok) just floating around and tending to some of the vehicles.

In the centre was a lift which John used to take him to the command bridge.

_Majestic_ is one helluva big ship, it dwarfed any other ships except for Covenant Supercarriers in which they dwarfed _Majestic_ by far, however the Dreadnought would be more than capable of gutting any Covenant ship. Hell these warships can cause stellar collapses; destroying High Charity wouldn't be a difficult feat.

John then walked over to a nearby console and hovered his hand over the port, which allowed Cortana to jump from his suit, into _Majestic_'s mainframe.

"It might be half of _Ascendant Justice_'s size, but it sure has a lot of legroom and firepower,"

John just smiled, "take us home,"

"Aye, aye Chief,"

The Forerunner warship rumbled and took off; once they reached minimal safe distance they began to initiate a slipspace jump.

The alarms began to blare, and on screen the words began to scroll out…

_\- Warning… Slipspace anomaly detected, Slipspace abnormality: Very High_

…_Command Prompt Start…_

_/ Abort Slipspace jump_

_\-Error, cannot abort Slipspace jump, vessel has already entered Slipspace._

…_Command Prompt Log End…_

The viewport monitors began to show _Majestic_ entering slipspace, the vast expanses of the black space filled with shinning dots began to disappear from view and replaced by a shimmering blue glow.

**A/N: You know how the Ironman suit looks? And how it looks like one solid/connected piece? Well the Chief's armour is like that, doesn't look like that, but is like that, i.e. You can't see the black body suit (reactive crystal/positronic brain layer) underneath because armour plates cover everything.**

**Now if you're wondering what happen to Miranda Keyes and Johnson, well I decided to remove them from the story. So, pretend that they never were revived.**


	2. Setting up

**Sorry for the very late update but I was cross-checking my research and fining and polishing this chapter. Not to mention school, and my PC crashed so I lost quite a bit of work on it.**

**Chapter 2**

_In slipspace, Majestic Command and Control Bridge…_

"What do you think that means Cortana?" said the Chief referring to the screen.

"Crystal fragments, probably the fragments from the full Crystal found on Reach by Halsey, these fragments must be the leftovers when Locklear blew it up, or they could be different Crystals entirely. They somehow managed to drift to _Riverside_ and interfere with our jump,"

"So has it interfered with our slipspace jump?"

"I don't know, we're leaving slipspace in a few minutes, we'll know by then if our jump has been interfered, even then I can't say for sure, this is a randomized jump,"

_Majestic_ left slipspace, the blue glow of slipspace was soon replaced by the infinite expanses of normal space. The Forerunner ship was about to move on when Cortana halted the vessel because of vast amounts of burning debris surrounding them.

"Chief, we have ship debris around us,"

"Identify," ordered John.

"Scanning," said Cortana, "it appears to be hull sections from numerous Covenant ships, one ship in particular, _Ascendant Justice_,"

"_Ascendant Justice_?"

"Yes Chief, I'm guessing they must have drifted this far due to the slipspace anomaly, which would explain why they're still glowing red hot, or this could just be the result of our randomized slipspace jump, but it doesn't explain why those chunks are still burning,"

"Fine, let's get back to Earth," urged John.

"Sure thing Chief…" Cortana appeared to be distracted by something, "I'm picking up a UNSC FOF tag, it is Spartan two Li oh-oh-eight,"

"Is he still alive?" asked John

"I'm not getting anything; his armour must be badly damaged,"

"Dead or alive, we're not leaving him here,"

**XXxxXX**

Li's eyes flickered open, his breathing was rapid, and his entire body burned and ached. The Spartan scanned his surrondings, he saw the vast expanse of space, burning chunks of _Ascendant_ _Justice_'s hull and a badly damaged Covenant dropshop with no cockpit.

He keyed his mike, nothing; the plasma blast must've damaged a whole spectrum of things on his armour.

Li's breathing was becoming more ragged by the second, he needed to know why. He opened the MJOLNIR Mark V manual/status, images and information's scrolled down his HUD. His armour was critically damaged but thankfully, not breached, and the shields were fully functional.

He then opened up his biofeed, Li was sporting all kinds of wounds, internal bruising, internal bleeding, a number of broken ribs and torn muscles.

"No point in hanging around,"

Seeing the craft as his best viable option, Li activated his armour's thrusters. He was propelled forward towards the dropship.

As he glided past the Covenant vessel, he grabbed a hand-rung and disengaged the thrusters. His eyes scanned across the smouldering wreck, nothing of use. But something else then caught his eye a floating silhouette of a Spartan.

Li then headed to the drifting Spartan; upon reaching it he checked the tag.

"Anton?" he breathed

Li attempted to interface his armour with Anton to see if the Spartan was still alive, but Li doubted it. Anton's armour was charred black and he didn't appear on the FOF motion sensor.

"Rest easy pal,"

Li's mind soon began to wander, how long had he been out? A few hours maybe, the Covenant metals are still burning. Eventually Li began to remember what had happened the last time he was conscious. He and a few other Spartans were repairing a conduit or something on Ascendant Justice, when plasma struck the Covenant dropship that was piloted by Polaski, which was when Li blacked out and regained consciousness in dead space.

It was all hopeless; he was alone, with no space farring vessel in dead space with a dead comrade and in all probability, his armour was going fail before he died. But all that changed when a gigantic ship came out of slipspace. Sure it was half the size of _Ascendant Justice_, but this thing looked like it could gut the huge Covenant Super carrier with ease. The recently arrived vessel had a trigonometric shape, illuminated by its own lighting and a matte grey coloured hull with the words _UNSC Majestic_ inscribed on it. Li smiled. Help had arrived.

Li grabbed onto Anton and active his thruster pack and began to manoeuvre towards _Majestic_. To be truthful, Li was quiet wary of _Majestic_, after all, no ship in the UNSC was that big, and even if there were, they wouldn't remain a secret for long.

But from his view, it was better than floating in space.

After a few minutes, Li had contact on his motion sensor; a FOF Tag appeared on his HUD.

_/Distance: 4km_

_/Contact: Spartan-117_

**XXxxXX**

Relief flooded John when he saw Li, and vice versa. Except Li's mouth was wide open because of John's new armour. However a small hint of sadness came when John saw Anton, sure John "knew" that Anton was dead back awhile, but seeing Anton's body had set in stone that Anton was dead.

John dismounted his booster frame and glided over to Li, then the two towed Anton back to the booster frame and secured the fallen Spartan onto the back, then flew back to _Majestic's _hangar bay.

**XXxxXX**

_Majestic's lounge…_

After Anton's body had been placed in a cryotube, Cortana initiated a slipspace jump. It was time for a bit of catching up, in a creamy white coloured theme, "designer" lounge. John took off his helmet and sat in an arm chair, while Li sat on the couch opposite to John. Li didn't wear any armour however, mainly because he was wrapped up in bandages and injected with bio-nanites. Instead he just wore shorts and a t-shirt. For Li, it felt nice to feel the touch of soft carpet on his skin again.

Funny, for all the time John had known Li, he never got use to the fact that after the augmentation process, Li had blue eyes, a full Asian with blue eyes; but then again Li looked pretty badass with luminous cobalt blue eyes. After the augmentations, the first thing Li said when he looked in the mirror was "Sweet, blue eyes,"

"It's good to have you back Li, I'm surprised you're still alive," said John,

"What do you mean?" asked Li as he refered to his watch, "it's only been a few hours,"

"Actually, we thought that you were dead, and it's been a few months since the accident on _Ascendant Justice_,"

"But the hulls were still burning when I woke up,"

"Time dialation," interjected Cortana, "that Crystal, Halsey and Fred found warped many things, what was a few hours for you, was months for us,"

"I suppose that explains the ship and the armour John's wearing, but where is the crew?"

"Long story, well after what we thought was your death, Dr Halsey and Kelly disappeared, Locklear blew up the crystal but accidentally killing him in the process and the remaining Spartans and I took out a Covenant naval yard or space station, it was a rallying point for an Earth invasion armada, and this was where Grace was killed. We repaired the _Gettysburg_ and headed back to Earth while Admiral Whitcomb and Lieutenant Haverson stayed back on _Ascendant Justice_ to lure the remaining Covenant with a fake Crystal, and crashed the ship into the Space station, taking some five-hundred ships down with them. Back at Earth, Johnson and I linked up with Commander Miranda Keyes, and we discovered a second Halo. During that time, the Covenant were in strife as well, the Covenant Elites were being replaced by Brutes, soon a genocidal campaign was waged upon the Elites, which prompted them and the UNSC to form an Alliance. The war finished up with me, Arbiter (the leader of the Elites), Johnson and Keyes on the Ark, an installation which builds Halos; while we were trying to stop the Covenant leadership from firing all the Halos, Keyes was killed. Now since I destroyed the first Halo, the Ark was building a replacement, but the Halo wasn't finished, a premature fire would destroy the installation. This didn't go down well with our Forerunner Monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, who then killed Johnson. In turn I killed Spark and then fired Halo. The Arbiter and I legged it off the Ark and onto the Keyes's frigate. We initiated a slipspace jump, but the portal collapsed before the whole ship made it through. The Arbiter probably made it back to Earth, while Cortana and I were stuck in dead space. After a while, we made landfall at Riverside, a planet that was near ground zero of the Flood outbreak. At Riverside we upgrade with Forerunner tech, and then headed home. As Cole Protocol, we made a randomised jump, and that's how we found you."

Li nodded, "So that armour is a MJOLNIR/Forerunner Hybrid?"

"Yeah, a couple of Forerunner engineers will be bringing up your set soon."

**XXxxXX**

_Majestic's main bridge…_

"Home sweet home, well second home anyway," chuckled Cortana as Earth came into view.

"Nothing like it," said Li, "but something is wrong, shouldn't there be any MAC stations or UNSC ships? I mean the only reason why those things wouldn't be there is the Covenant, but then Earth would also have to be glassed."

"I agree," said John, "Cortana, check the bands,"

"Copy that… nothing, we have nothing on the UNSC bands,"

"Scan the planet,"

"Scanning… I've detected numerous satellite networks and major population centres similar to that of twenty first century Earth,"

"So we've gone back in time?" asked Li.

"I'm not too sure,"

"See if you can hack into the internet and get us some layouts of cars and clothing for Li and me, once you have them, send it to my armour so that Li and I can pick out which models and clothes to make. Then we'll go Intel gathering on the ground,"

"Fair enough, I'll send a Spy-drone to a satellite so I can interface with it and get you up to speed with this Earth,"

**XXxxXX**

Five days later, John and Li found themselves driving through the streets of Manhattan, in a black Audi A8 W12.

Of course the Audi did not sport its actual 21st century fossil based engine but a 26th century UNSC 8L liquid-cooled Hydrogen-injected ICE engine. Much more energy and cost efficient. Also, the Audi was built back on Majestic by the Engineers so that secret compartments for weapons, specialised armour and communications gear could be installed.

The two had just been dropped off on the outskirts of New York City and this was their third time in the city. Both Spartans were wearing jet black business suits, white shirt and different colour themed tie, and both men wore designer glasses.

Why this choice for their cover? Simple, a Warthog of any variant would stand out like a sore thumb, and wearing business suits would give them a corporate look, the designer glasses are equipped with optical phasing technology, as they were to act as HUDs for the Spartans and to cover up Li's blue eyes and give him brown eyes instead. Li suggested contact lenses but Cortana said it wasn't such a good idea, because prolonged usage of contact lenses would eventually damage the eyes.

While John and Li had been acquainting themselves with some of their recently acquired gear, Cortana had siphoned a few million AUS and US Dollars and placed them into Swiss bank accounts for John and Li to use. Next she created their birth certificates and created fake profiles.

John's profile stated that his full name is Johannes Sev Clover, 25 years of Age, born in Sydney Australia. Moved to America to complete Master degrees in Mathematics and Business Management, graduated with flying colours.

Li's profile said his full name is Li Yuan, born in London England, a master of Chinese martial arts. Moved to America to complete Master degrees in Mathematics and Economics, graduated with flying colours.

"Ohh man I'm hungry," said Li who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Me too, what should we eat?" asked John.

"I have a need for something extravagant, high class, but worth the money and delicious," Li said with great flamboyancy.

"Soo I'm guessing you want to eat at the Golden Arches Restaurant?"

"What? Golden Arches… ohhh McDonalds," chuckled Li, "that's a good one,"

"Yeah, but I've had enough of McDonalds for the week, and don't get me wrong, I love the ice cream,"

"Ohh that looks like a nice place," said Li as he pointed towards a coast front restaurant.

"Alright then,"

John then turned right into the carparck and parked the car.

"Don't forget your bag," said Li as he got out of the car and closed the door.

Slung over both Spartans' shoulder was a sleek, jet black messenger bag for "frequent flyers" that contained a tacpad, a small power pack, a powerful comlink, and extra magazines for the M6C/SOCOM.

John and Li then walked into the restaurant where the waiter showed them a table and handed them a couple of menus.

The restaurant was a nice place, full walled windows which showed the winter harbour and a deep red and orange colour theme for the furniture and cream coloured walls. At this time, only a quarter of the restaurant was full.

"Hello sir, what would you like for today?" asked the waiter politely.

"Hi, and like the lamb special and a glass of lemonade," said Li.

"Of course, and you sir?"

"The steak special, rare, and a glass of orange juice please," said John.

"Very well sir,"

With that, the waiter took the menus and left to place the order.

**XXxxXX**

Not too far away from the Spartan's table, sat Scarlett (aka Shana M. O'Hara) and Cover Girl (aka Courtney Kreiger).

"Hey Shana, did you notice those two guys there?"

Scarlett glanced over to the table where the two tall men sat. Both wore corporate clothing and glasses and were extremely well built. One was an unnaturally pale Caucasian male, with a rugged look, quiet attractive actually, brown eyes, neatly cut brown hair and a small scar over his right eye. The other was an Asian male with closely cropped hair, and a long face which suited the glasses he wore quite nicely.

There was something wrong about the way the two men sat, to Scarlett. It was just too disciplined.

"Something's wrong about those guys," whispered Cover Girl, "I think they're Special Forces,"

Cover Girl and Scarlett possessed an uncanny ability to identify a soldier out of uniform, and specifically what type of soldier.

"I think they're Tier Zero level operatives," said Scarlett, "I'll tell you in the car,"

The two women left the restaurant after they had paid the bill. They walked outside and strolled along the snow coated carpark, towards their car, a deep blue, four door Volkswagen.

"Ok, Tier Zero level operatives, who are they?"

Scarlett looked around, and seeing no one within earshot, she spoke softly. Besides, if anyone heard her, would they even care? Those people had their own lives to deal with.

"Well you and I have worked with a lot of Tier One Operatives, so guys like Navy SEALs, SAS and so on,"

"Yeah,"

"Well Tier Zero level Operatives are handpicked for their skills,"

"Like the Joes?"

"Not exactly, like the Joes, Tier Zero branches both look for soldiers with excellent skills, from Special Force branches. Unlike the Joes, Tier Zero level branches, they screen the genetics of their recruits."

"Why?"

"To see if they're compatible with performance enhancing drugs that they have cooked up. If these drugs are used on the right person with the right amount, it will have no harmful side effects."

"So Special Force soldiers that are fuelled up on steroids basically?"

"Yes, but not only are they fuelled up on steroids, but other drugs that enhances all physical and mental aspects of the soldiers. Though no matter how much they develop these drugs, all these soldiers go through a certain stage which makes them sensitive to loud noises, light and prone to headaches."

"Why?"

"It's the missions these Operatives go through; it's very brutal, what these guys go through."

"What exactly do they go through?"

"As you know, modern soldiers like us, have been given enough training that we have no problem with shoot to kill. Tier Zero level recruits go through much more. Once recruited, they are broken down through methods of sleep deprivation and water tanking, after that, they are mentally conditioned to kill efficiently, ruthlessly and almost without remorse. These guys are a new breed of soldiers."

"So what you're saying is, the U.S. Government and other nations around the world, have "Captain America" soldiers,"

"Yes, but without the moral or ethical problems that a normal soldier might encounter. They are conscious less, smart, efficient killing machines."

"How do you know all this, Shana?"

"When I was working for the CIA, I worked with a lot of Tier Zero units."

"So are these guys called Tier Zero? Or is that just a level,"

"Level," answered Scarlett, "I only know one Tier Zero branch, and that's Fourth Echelon,"

"Fourth Echelon?"

"Could be the only Tier Zero branch still active," said Scarlett, "They do intelligence gatherings and assassination."

"I'm guessing by intelligence gathering that also includes on site interrogation."

"Yes. Fourth Echelon soldiers move with the crowd for insertion, but after insertions, they move within the shadows and roof tops."

"So you think these guys are Fourth Echelon?"

"Yes,"

"They're probably out for lunch,"

**XXxxXX**

Quickly, their meals came. The Spartans ate in a formal manner, but quickly too. Once finished, they put on their coats, paid their bill and left the restaurant.

**XXxxXX**

Scarlett and Cover Girl watched as the two men left the restaurant.

"Shana," Cover Girl whispered, "is it possible that the drugs that Fourth Echelon uses make their guys that big?"

"Possibly, I don't know. The guys from Fourth Echelon are big, but not that big."

The two women continued to watch, as the two men walked down the stairs and towards their car.

"Whoa, nice ride," said Cover Girl referring to the Audi.

"I know, but we gotta head back now. Let's go."

**XXxxXX**

John and Li were back on the road again, they were on their way to Time Square to absorb more culture and have some leisure time, which had been an alien concept to them for almost their entire lives.

Right now, the traffic had grinned to a standstill, and Li sitting in the passenger seat, had turned one the radio and tuned to a station that broadcasted classical music.

"Hmm, looks like Cortana has got something," said Li as his tacpad beeped.

The Spartan opened his messenger bag and retrieved the device. His fingers danced across the touch screen as he confirmed his selection, which were Cortana's sent files.

"What does it say?" asked John. He turned the wheel and took a left.

"Well, good news. We haven't gone back in time," said Li, "bad news; we're in an alternate reality,"

"And how did she come up with that? And how is any of it good or bad?" asked John.

"Beats me. Hold on, I'm connecting to Majestic."

Li tapped in a few commands into his tacpad.

"Okay, uplink successful," smiled Li, "we're online with Cortana."

The AI's avatar then appeared on screen.

"Chief, Li, I trust you guys are having a good time,"

"We are," replied Li, "The Golden Bridges restaurant was lovely,"

"Golden Bridges? Oh wait, McDonalds, haha. Nice one."

"John came up with that,"

"Well, looks like someone's adapting. I guess you two are calling about the update?"

"Yes," said John, "care to explain?"

"Well, I've crosschecked our history with this Earth's history. Well there have been some inconsistencies. There is a terrorist group here that we've never heard of, or have records of. They are known as Cobra."

"Cobra?" asked Li, perplexed.

"They're in the game for world domination."

"World domination? Now that is messed up,"

"Yes it is Li. They're widespread and well known. Of course, Cobra are counted by the G.I. Joe."

"G.I. Joe?" it was John this time, "what kind of a name is that?"

"G.I. Joe is a counter-terrorist formed by the U.S. as a special mission force to counter terrorists. They recruits the best of the best from Special Force branches from the U.S military and its allies. These guys are also well known."

"Household names?"

"Yes, the Joes are household names,"

"Must be tough to operate if you're a household name,"

"That's true, that's where Fourth Echelon comes in."

"How'd you find all of this out?" asked Li.

"I dug through some news website archives. Then I hacked my way through into government networks by sending Clarion spy drones to multiple satellite networks around the globe, and gaining access through there." Replied Cortana.

"Can you tell us more about Fourth Echelon?" asked John.

"Well, their operatives are fuelled with the latest drugs that have no harmful side effects when used on the right person. The drugs increase their cognitive abilities, eyesight, blood oxygen, stamina, strength and endurance. As far as I can tell, Fourth Echelon not only carries out assassinations and Intel gathering, but also monitors other Government branches and has sleeper agents all over the world. These guys are like ONI field agents."

"Okay then, conclusion?" asked John.

"Well, we're going to be stuck here for a long time. I have no idea how long until I can find a solution for us to get back home."

"I guess in the meantime," said John, "we can help out with things here."

"Sounds reasonable, we took an oath to protect the innocent back in our reality," said Li, "the oath is still in effect, here."

**XXxxXX**

_USS Flagg, off the coast of New York City…_

"How was lunch?" asked General Hawk, as he, Scarlett and Cover Girl ascended up the elevator to the control room on the aircraft carrier.

"It was nice, but I thought I saw some Fourth Echelon guys there,"

"Fourth Echelon?" asked Hawk, "are you sure?"

The redhead nodded.

"Well what were they doing?"

"Having lunch I guess."

"Wait, at the restaurant you went too?" asked Hawk, slightly perplexed.

"Yes," answered Scarlett, "they normally stay back at base when they're off duty,"

"That means they're on duty then," said Hawk, "why else would they be eating outside their base,"

The elevator doors parted opened and revealed a number of technicians working at consoles and monitoring satellite feeds.

"Okay," said Hawk, "we're just going to have to let this one slide, Fourth Echelon doesn't like people interfering with their work. Dismissed."

General Hawk then headed off to tend to some other duties while Cover Girl and Scarlett headed towards the living quarters.

**XXxxXX**

"Well this is nice," said Li, as he and John walked around Time Square.

It was about six in the evening now, the sky had darkened and accentuated the many lights of New York.

"So what do we need to get?" asked Li.

"Well, I just spoke with Cortana," said John, "and she found a nice suitable estate outside the city limits. Of course it's empty so we'll buy some supplies and a couple of books before we head there,"

"Sounds good,"

John and Li received hundreds of glances as they weaved in and out of stores buying certain items. Finally after having bought a few kilos of beef, gravy, eighteen bags of chips, kitchenware, cutlery, a Blu-ray player, a small LCD TV and fifteen movies, the Spartans loaded their recently acquired products into the Audi and drove to the address Cortana gave them.

**XXxxXX**

The estate is a large manor, with a huge, beautiful, symmetrical, four storeys English-style country house with tall, majestic pillars. At the front of the house is a graceful fountain, surrounded by flower bushes and a driveway which wound around it. Along the driveway on both sides are short retaining walls and behind the retaining walls are narrow but long waterways with numerous small fountains. The driveway leads away from the house and onto a road.

The lands surrounding the house were the typically short cut grasses found on hundreds of manors worldwide. Along the borders of the manor are tall evergreens which hid the house from view. Since it was currently winter, the area was coated in a layer of snow.

As Li and John alighted the Audi, Li gave a low whistle. Then a sentinel drone hovered towards them, and Cortana appeared on its holotank.

"So what do you guys think of the place?"

"Nice," smiled John, "how'd you find it?"

"I have my ways," replied the AI, "Anyway, I have already set up a few things inside the house, so you guys can go unpack if you want, and I have instructed some sentinels and engineers to construct an underground landing pad. They'll be done in a week, once finished the pad will be able to support an ONI Prowler."

John gave a low whistle.

"Well you two have fun," said Cortana, "I've siphoned some more money into your accounts, so go online and order a few things for the house and give it a homely touch. Now I've got some monitoring duty to do,"

"Um, thanks," beamed Li and John.

As John and Li walked inside the house, they took in the sight of the atrium, four storeys tall, white cream walls with white granite pillars, wide stair cases, a huge crystal chandelier and a skylight which spanned across the entire ceiling of the atrium.

"I can get use to this," said Li.

It took the better part of the night for the two Spartans to settle in, first was to select which rooms would be theirs (both Spartans chose the two master bedrooms on the fourth floor), then they set up the plasma TV screen in the lounge on the fourth floor and stocked the kitchen with the food they had bought. Then after having eaten dinner, the two decided to tune into the late night news, followed by watching some of the movies they had purchased earlier.

Later, they went to bed, each Spartan performing his nightly ritual of, brushing his teeth, changing into suitable attire, which was a t-shirt and shorts in this case, and then placed their loaded weapons on a makeshift night stand. Once finished, both lay down on the makeshift beds and bulled over their field-blankets.

The next morning, both men woke and had breakfast. After breakfast, they went for a run around the estate, to both observe the landscape and get some exercise. Afterwards, they returned back to the house were they ordered designer furniture which would suit the interior of the house perfectly via their tacpads. They ordered two large dinning sets, five living room sets, fifteen bedroom sets with king-sized beds, lots of bookshelves and lots of rectangular glass desks.

About thirty minutes later, five Albatross dropship, filled with sentry guns, electrical devices, custom luxury vehicles, Warthogs, and weapons, landed within the confines of the manor. John and Li walked outside and were approached by a sentinel with a holotank. Cortana's avatar then appeared.

"Have you guys seen the pool yet?" the AI asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"The outdoor living area is quite nice," said Li.

"Anyway, I've got more sentinels and engineers on the ground to help you guys turn this place into a fort."

John smiled.

The group spent the day digging holes where the sentry guns would be placed. Each sentry gun was self-elevating, so it could rise from the ground and it could be controlled remotely from either Cortana, the two Spartans' tacpad and the Command and control centre which was located deep down in the estates bunker which was located under the house, and could only accessed via John and Li's master bedroom secret elevators. The sentry guns were placed in grid formation to provide maximum cover and defensive capabilities.

Each sentry gun has the look of a standard mini-gun but they are actually beam weapons.

Archer missile pods were then installed around the house and in the rook of the house to provide defense against air units or heavy ground units.

Next was installing the video cameras, thermal cameras and infrared cameras.

By the end of the week, the country-house had been turned into a state-of-the-art fort, with numerous command and control centres that were in the master bedrooms, and the bunker below. The construction of the landing pad had also been completed, which now housed an ONI Prowler and a few Pelican dropships. Everything the Spartan's needed were in convenient locations that were only accessible via intricate high security mazes/secret passages. And with the recently delivered furniture, the interior of the house was beautifully decorated with lounges, bedrooms, and offices. So, in summary, the house contained the living areas, whereas the subterranean levels contained a gym, sparring ring, a firing range, armoury, garage, a vast landing pad and the hive or Command and Control centre.

When all the "unique" renovations were done, the Spartans decided to have a bit of rest and relaxation out in the back by the swimming pool, which had frozen over.

Li was cooking lunch on the grill, while John sat in an outdoor recliner, rereading the information Cortana had sent them about the G.I. Joe, Fourth Echelon and Cobra.

G.I. Joe was similar to the ODSTs back in the Spartan's reality, Cobra mirrored the extremists during the Space colonisation and Fourth Echelon was ONI's equivalent of Field Agents.

"Lunch is ready," smiled Li, as he served the grilled salmon.

"Mm looks good," said John as he got up from the recliner and walked over to the table.

The two Spartans sat down and tuckered right in.

"You know, this weather reminds me of that time Mendez sabotaged us," said Li.

"Yeah, Mendez sabotaged us hundreds of times on training exercise," said John, "which one are you talking about?"

"Reach during winter, we were split up into our normal teams, and our objectives were to avoid patrols while navigating our way to the extraction point. He gave us false maps, and in the end, all then all of us somehow rallied at a cave, and just in time too, since a blizzard was coming in,"

"Ah yes, I remember that," smiled John, "Kelly was so cold that I had to hug her to warm her up,"

Li just laughed, "John, any other girl or girls could've warmed Kelly. You just wanted some face time with her,"

John just smiled at that happy memory while tapping his fork on his plate.

"At first I thought you were being friendly,"

"And then what?"

"Well, I knew you just wanted to be with Kelly, it was kinda obvious when you two were still clinging together AFTER, Sam and James got the fire started."

"Well Fred and Linda were also cuddling in the corner,"

"I know I saw that too, but don't drag them into this. Everyone knows, that you and Kelly share a lot of chemistry,"

"Huh, never thought you'd be the expert on social interactions, Li."

"Don't try to change the subject,"

"I know, I know. The program never really allowed me and Kelly any personnel time,"

"It rarely did John." Li paused for a minute, "I wonder where they are now,"

"Me too,"

The Spartans' train of thought was then ended when Cortana called.

"Chief, we have a situation. I have detected massive troop movements to and from a Cobra base in Germany. Something big is going down there, how should we proceed?"

"I think it's time we put some fear into those snakes, what do you think Li?"

"I think it's time,"

**XXxxXX**

**Well guys, thanks for pointing out those errors and giving me a heads ups (many thanks Mecaldar).**

**To Freedom Guard I say this, thanks for the review. I agree, juggling a lot of projects is not such a good idea, but right now I'm having idea explosions, and also I prefer to jump from one project to another so I don't flatline on one project.**

**And yeah, I saw the negative effects of dualities, so as you have noticed, I've decided to go with a different direction for the story's intro to that of my Halo and JLU version.**

…

**I am super confused about John's eye colour, I've read in the books (if memory serves me right), John's eye colour is brown. However Halopedia says his eyes are blue.**

**Halo Nation only says he has serious eyes, but does not say what colour.**

**Other sources on the internet say it's brown. Now, could it be possible that he's like Carter? Brown eyes pre-augmentation and then to blue eyes post-augmentation. However there is no mention of that happening to John.**

**See what kind of a rut I'm in?**

…

**So I'm just gonna stick with brown eyes (like with my other stories) because majority of sources I've seen say brown, and I want to keep a thing or two of similarities between both my G.I. Joe and JLU variations.**

…

**Anyway I guess you guys can pick out small references to Bourne and Splinter Cell. (Btw, I'm well aware that in Splinter Cell, it's Third Echelon. I had it as Fourth Echelon so I can mould it to my purpose without having any issues regarding canon and authenticity).**

…

**I will have references to the G.I. Joe movie, for example, the suit that Duke and Ripcord used while chasing Storm Shadow and Baroness through the streets of Paris.**


	3. Deja Vu

**Duh herrow.**

**If you have seen **_**G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra**_**, then you would have seen the tough as nails soldiers that the Cobras have. They wear thick metallic grey armour that protects them from a lot of damage. Those guys are Neo-Vipers.**

**Basic Cobra infantry men will be referred to as blueshirts.**

**The other Cobra Special Forces I will include into my story (for the time being) are the Crimson Guards (Cobra's Elite), just to keep things simple.**

**I will include BATs later.**

**Time for Chapter 3**

**XXxxXX**

The ONI Prowler soared through the night over Europe. Li had named the stealth corvette _Ghost Raven_, the name was immediately welcomed by Cortana and John.

"ETA to drop off zone, one hour," said Cortana as she appeared on a holotank in the ship's control deck.

"Got it," replied John.

He and Li then went to check their weapons; Cortana had recently ordered the construction of some prototype weapons that ONI was developing. The official weapon's designation is HARM-001, Heavy Assault Rifle Model 001. It was to be issued to the Spartans for its versatility; the whole concept was based on the 21st Century weapon called the ACR. It also looked like the ACR SPR except the HARM-001 was matte grey, bigger, longer, sleeker and had more tactical rails it also comes with fore-grip, standard.

It is about the length of a Covenant Carbine, and the HARM-001 fired its own specific set of ammunition 10x70mm, but can be interchanged to fire different sized rounds. The rate of fire for the weapon is 600rpm and can be fired in semi-auto, burst and automatic. The magazine size is 40rounds. Also, as an extra-feature, there was a container mounted on the case ejector to collect any used shells, thus to lighten the footprint.

The weapon was developed for taking out heavy infantry at any range (mainly rampaging Brutes), and is extremely accurate.

Now this weapon was definitely overkill against Cobra's usual blueshirt grunts, but the whole reason the two Spartans had decided to use this weapon was because Cortana had informed them that Cobra's Neo-Vipers wore heavy armour and were tough as nails. So one plus one equals bring in the Brute buster. And another reason was now wasn't the time to crack out Forerunner tech.

Once the Engineers had completed the construction of the HARMs, they then examined and tweaked the weapons for any flaws.

When Cortana had gave the Spartans' their new weapons, Li spoke, "To quote Sam, I think I'm in love, no wait, I am."

Both Li and John had attached mounted Optic sights capable of zero to 5xmagnification and suppressors to their HARMs, when fired; the weapons will sound like a small hiss.

Both Spartans were also armed with the M6C/SOCOM, Spartan Laser and five combat knives.

"Cortana, what's the enemy strength?"

"About a regiment worth of soldiers have arrived at a base in Germany; they're preparing for something big. Scans on the base show that there is a strong garrison force composed of a few armoured vehicles, two medium attack helicopters, three VTOLs and two battalions of troops, excluding the regiment. There is a fuel dump at the northern end of the air field, blowing that up will cause a major distraction. But also destroy their main and auxiliary power generators to cripple the base; they are located in the base's centre."

"Alright then, any more Intel on the base?" asked John.

A 3D layout of the base appeared on the main holotank.

"I managed to find the base by detecting energy signatures, and well there was a gigantic signature in the middle of nowhere, I did a little look see and found that there are four man patrol teams with dogs that patrol the road up to the main entrance; they have a five minute interval between one another. The base is on a snowy plateau and there are two ways in and out, one is the main entrance, and the other is the airfield."

Points on the map were then highlighted.

"So what's the plan then?" asked Li.

"You and I will drop off in the same area, but we will avoid killing anyone until we have rigged up the fuel dumps and the power generators. We'll then move to the Command post, nab their leader and exfill three klicks south of the base," said John as he pointed to certain areas.

"Sounds easy," said Li, "should we wipe out the base while we're at it?"

John nodded.

For this mission, the Spartans used _Ghost Raven_'s on board armoury to change the colour schemes of their armour to bone white with smoke grey trimmings and smoke grey visor. They still kept the UNSC insignia and designation, minus their names, on the armour. So, John's designation on the armour is _UNSC SPARTAN-II-117_, and Li's _UNSC SPARTAN-II-008_.

Then they spent the rest of the flight studying various Viper archetypes, learning their strengths and how to counter them. The blueshirts are pushovers, and Crimson Guards shouldn't be too hard to eliminate, but the main concern were Neo-Vipers, tough as nails, and nano-enhanced, but that was why the Spartans brought along the HARMs.

About an hour later, _Ghost Raven _arrived at the drop off point. The bay doors opened and the two Spartans jumped out for a high altitude insertion.

"Okay, good luck boys, I'll circle around and provide support," said Cortana over the com.

"Copy."

**XXxxXX**

_G.I. Joe Deployment aircraft, over the North Atlantic Ocean…_

The Joes were getting a briefing from General Hawk over a visual feed.

"What's the mission?" asked Duke.

"Satellite images have shown massive Cobra troop movements in Germany, to one of their bases," said Hawk, "we want to know why they're massing in numbers and we want to neutralise the base,"

Visual data of the base came flooding through.

"The other Joes along with NATO forces will create a diversion by a heavy frontal assault, while you guys are to sneak in and capture the garrison's leader, then exfil so we can interrogate the leader. Be advised, weather in the region is heavy snows,"

"Will any other Special Force groups be involved sir?" asked Scarlett.

"I have been assured that there won't be. All their operatives are tied down at the moment. Good luck, out."

The feed was cut.

Then the pilot's voice sounded over the intercom.

"ETA to drop off, one hour."

**XXxxXX**

The landing went without a hitch, Li and John quickly stowed away their parachutes into their packs and began their advance.

"My sonar is up and running," said John, "how about yours?"

"All sensors are working, motion tracker is clear."

The two Spartans moved away from the snowy plains and into the woods.

Cortana then contacted the two super soldiers.

"Alert, scans from _Majestic_ shows that a Joint NATO and G.I. Joe task force are moving towards the base, hit hard and fast guys,"

"Storms coming," said Li over the com, as he noted the strong billowing winds.

"Engage Optical Camo, and move behind the patrols. The snowy weather will cover up our footprints in half a minute."

"Copy," replied Li.

In an instant, the Spartans faded away from sight.

"Patrol dead ahead," Li warned, "four blueshirts, two dogs,"

"Okay, move around them,"

It took about fifteen minutes for the Spartans to avoid all the patrols, and reach the main entrance. The base defences weren't much, just two metre tall concrete walls with barbed wire, a checkpoint at the entrances and lots of foxholes and watchtowers. But looks can be deceiving, and both Spartans new that the base was filled with scanners.

The sonars outlined every building and every unit that was within fifty metres of the Spartans; well it revealed everything that within fifty metres that wasn't behind a concrete cover.

"Got a platoon of Cobras at the checkpoint," Li noted.

"Alright, move around them."

As the Spartans stealthily entered the base, the winds were softened by the buildings, revealing Cobra insignias on the buildings, a couple of hangars for the planes, sheds, admin buildings and a number of barracks.

"Okay guys, the fuel dump is five hundred metres in front of your position, Command post is four hundred and fifty metres north, north east of your position, main power plants are one hundred and fifty metres to your east, and the auxiliary power plants are two hundred metres to your west," said Cortana over the comlink.

Markers then appeared on both Spartans' HUDs.

"Copy," replied John, "Li, go hit the power plants, I'll take out the fuel dump,"

Li's acknowledgement lights winked on, and the Spartans went to complete their objectives. Each man carried C12 explosives, UNSC's extreme gut buster, so the Spartans only needed small amounts of the plastic explosive to get things going, a 4x4inch cube of the stuff is enough to take down a five story building. So on the flight to the Cobra base, John and Li had reduce the C12s to 2x2 inch cubes with small detonators.

There weren't that many patrols within the base itself, only one or two sentries every now and then that could easily be avoided. The recently arrived regiment had already parked their vehicles and headed off to the mess halls or barracks. _They pack up quick_, John thought.

The two Spartans didn't walk directly to their objectives, but deviated to certain points so that they could rig anything with enough explosives to tear it down, planes, jeeps, trucks, armour, hangars, barracks, sheds, admin buildings, they were all targeted.

Upon reaching their destination, each Spartan planted two 2x2inch cubes of C12s on their targets, which was more than enough to level them completely.

"Charges planted," said Li.

"Copy, move to the command post, I'll race you there," replied John.

So far, the Cobra forces are still unaware of the Spartans' presence.

On the way to the command post, Li and John targeted other structures as well, such as barracks, sheds, hangars and vehicles, with C12 and LOTUS mines. The trap was set.

Five minutes later the two Spartans linked up under the command post, it was a tall concrete bunker with thick bulletproof glass windows. The main entrance was guarded by two Cobra Neo-Vipers; their helmets looked like silver skulls with black lenses, and their armour is a silver grey colour which covers their entire torso.

"Take the guy on the right, I'll take the guy on the left, on my mark," said John coolly.

"Copy,"

"Three, two, one, mark,"

The two Spartans' HARM-001 hissed as the bullets was expelled from the barrel. Both FMJ rounds found their mark in the middle of the enemy soldiers' eyes, and splattering blood over the concrete wall behind them. The shells were then ejected from the weapon's chamber and were collected by a box that was attached onto the heavy assault rifle.

This would be the first time in nearly three decades when both Spartans had pulled the trigger on a human being. It sure did feel uneasy for them, killing a fellow man after fighting against a collection of fanatical aliens. But the thoughts of doubts were quickly stuffed away by the two men; they swore to protect democratic and innocent humans by any means necessary.

"Too easy," whispered Li, to get back in the grove of the Spartans' original purpose, which was to kill _human_ innies.

This whole incursion started to remind the two Spartans what it was like going up against insurgents… piece of cake.

"Move up," ordered John, "and stack up on the right,"

The two Spartans quickly moved up, deactivated their optical camouflage and prepared to breach the door from the right.

"Breach and clear Li, you go in, I'll stay out here and detonate the explosives while cover you."

"Understood,"

Li then some C-7 Foaming Explosive onto the metal door, he took cover and then detonated the volatile compound. The door twisted and shattered as the thunderous force ripped through it.

**XXxxXX**

_Inside the command post…_

Major Johannes Strauss couldn't help but smile at the ingenuity of his plan. Cobra Commander had given him the all clear to set his plan in motion.

It was simple, so simple that the Joes could look straight through it and not know that they have looked through something. The idea was to move a regiment of troops to a Cobra base in an excellent vantage point; this would obviously attract the attention of the Joes, which would prompt them to induct an incursion into the Cobra base. The Cobras, already prepared for an assault from the Joes, will then ambush them within the base and kill them. The Major had a platoon of Crimson Guards, and three battalions of Neo-Vipers under his command.

Strauss was a smart man, and knew that if they pulled this plan off, they would instantly cripple the Joes, and then in all probability, some nosey Journalist will catch wind of what had happen to the Joes, write about it, and let the whole world see.

This in turn would damage morale of people around the world; however, if there wasn't a nosey Journalist, the Cobras could wreak havoc on late developing countries without having to worry about the Joes intervening, and eventually, the world will catch up and realise that the Joes are gone.

But then again, Strauss wouldn't be surprised to learn that the US military would have a sister organisation for the Joes. And the elimination of the Joes could unleash the wrath of their counterparts upon the Cobras.

In truth, Strauss didn't really care about an organisation waiting in the shadows to strike, if his plan succeeded, he would get a promotion. With that promotion, he would have more things at his disposal, which he would ultimately use to help Cobra's goal, world domination.

"Major," said an operator, "we have received words from our scouts that NATO troops are inbound."

"Good, tell them to pull back to the base,"

"Yes sir,"

Strauss then moved to his desk, placed down his coffee and sat down in his chair.

"Operator, have the garrison on stand…"

Before the Major could finish off his order, the metal door twenty metres to his left, exploded. An unfortunate operator who was standing next to the entrance was thrown back for the shockwave.

**XXxxXX**

As soon as the charge detonated, Li rushed through the door with his weapon levelled and ready. His adrenaline pumped and then everything began to move in slow motion.

At the same time, John detonated the rigged explosives, blowing up the power stations, vehicles, fuel dumps, barracks and hangars. In one instant, a large portion of the Cobra base was levelled. The burning fuel dumps produced a column of black smoke; the hangars collapsed and crushed anyone and anything inside of them. The barracks splintered, maiming and killing numerous Cobra soldiers, and the vehicles were torn apart with thunderous force, anyone unfortunate to be standing close to them were severely injured or killed. The VTOLs' engines exploded and showered everything around them with sparks, planes were bisected and collapsed, and the attack helicopters were reduced to slag.

As the Li moved through the doorway, bits of metal and spark were still flying. He saw a Cobra wearing red fatigues thrown back by the force with a look of shock on his face.

The Spartan shifted right and fired one round into a Cobra elite soldier, the bullet nailing the soldier right between the eyes. He then moved his aim to the right and fired five rounds, three meeting their mark in a Crimson Guard's chest, one into a Cobra reaching for his weapon and the last round slammed into a soldiers back, sending blood all over the display he was working at. His body then crumbled and slumped into his chair.

The Spartan then eyed the garrison's CO, who already had his sidearm up and levelled, but the man didn't even get a chance to fire, Li planted a bullet through the CO's right shoulder, the bullet passed through and landed into the concrete wall, the Cobra dropped his weapon and clutched at his wound.

**XXxxXX**

Strauss clutched his right shoulder, it was on fire, and the pain was sharp and stinging. Warm red blood oozed down his sleeve and over his hands. The Major looked at his attacker, a seven foot tall, white and grey armoured being.

The armoured being walked over to the Major, and all he could do was stare in awe and shock of this person. The armoured giant then lowered his rifle, relief flooded through Strauss, he wasn't going to be executed, but all that hope disappeared as the armoured anonymity un-holstered a sleek matte black pistol, aimed it at Strauss's forehead and fired.

Strauss's world then went black.

**XXxxXX**

Li aimed the M6C/SOCOM at the CO's forehead and fired a TTR. Li new the man was the garrison's leader, because he was wearing fatigues with the most decorations and he was sitting at a desk that would belong to a CO because of its position in accordance to the room.

Li's comlink then sparked to life, it was Cortana.

"Li, I need you to set up the router I gave you so I can interface with Cobra's network,"

"Okay,"

He then retrieved a UNSC router from his pack, installed it onto an undamaged console and let Cortana take over.

The Spartan then checked the CO's vitals and patched up his wounds. Then Li packed up his gear and jogged outside to John, who was crouching and constantly scanning the area.

"Damn," Li whispered.

"Damn indeed," replied John.

The two Spartans surveyed the carnage of the base. Rubble, debris, smokes and twisted metal was strewn everywhere. Cobra soldiers stumbled around in shock of what had happened, while others were rallying men and screaming orders.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!" One yelled.

"Ahhh I'm hit," wheezed another, clutching a wound on his shoulder.

"Team two," yelled a Crimson Guard, "over here!"

Storm began to set in, the winds picked up and began to howl, and the snow began to obscure many things from plain sight, especially the Spartans' armour artic colour scheme.

"Enemy armour, two o'clock," said John coolly, "Li, hit the one on the left, and take out the one on the right."

Two standard Cobra H.I.S.S tanks came into view; the two Spartans shouldered their Spartan Laser and began to charge up the weapon.

The two HISS tanks halted and swung around its turret to face the Spartans, but before the Cobra armour could fire, blood red beams struck them dead centre burning away the armour, gutting the vehicles and killing the occupants.

In an instant, all surviving Cobra forces turned to face the Spartans and unleashed a storm of fire.

The Spartans rolled behind cover, retrieved a Flashbang, and threw it towards the enemy.

The grenades exploded, disabling all Cobra soldiers within the vicinity. John and Li broke cover, advanced and cut down more soldiers with accurate shots to the heart. Soon Cobra resistance began to falter, and the Spartans went on a sprinting rampage, shooting, hacking, and smashing anyone who could still stand and fight.

And because of their massive momentum, the blueshirts turn tail and ran, leaving only the Crimson Guards and Neo-Vipers behind.

"Split up," ordered John, "I'll move north, you move south."

Li's green acknowledgement light winked on.

Li sprinted down a road, systematically sweeping every area of the base for any still-fighting Cobras.

He came up to an intersection which was guarded by eight Neo-Vipers. He charged towards the Cobra soldiers.

"Look out!" yelled a Neo-Viper as he aimed his rifle at Li.

But the Spartan was faster and better trained; he fired and planted three rounds into the Cobra's left side of the chest. The high calibre bullets smashed through the soldier's armour, ribs, lungs and the heart, and came out the other side. The soldier dropped like a potato sack, his blood flowing onto the white snow.

Li fired three more rounds before depleting the clip in his HARM, the rounds found their marks in a Neo-Viper's throat. The Cobra instantly dropped his rifle and grasped his neck, trying to stop the bleeding while blood oozed over his hands. But it was useless; the soldier was choking on his own blood.

Two down, six more to go, the Spartan slung his rifle and switched to his combat knives, he threw one knife into a Viper's throat, this man dropped like a stone instantly. Li was still running and didn't miss a beat; he leapt into the air, rising well above two metres. He came down like a swooping eagle and slammed the heel of his boot into the back of a Viper's head; the thunderous force tore through the helmet and crushed the skull, literally beheading the unfortunate combatant.

The Spartan landed and swept two more soldiers' legs, they fell like bowling pins. Li the stabbed the two fallen soldiers in the neck with his knives then charged at another cobra who was still standing and slashed at the exposed joints in the armour. The Neo-Viper convulsed in shock and slumped onto the cold snow.

The two remaining Vipers managed to get a bead on Li and fired, but the Spartan sidestepped, a clean miss. The super soldier then side kicked one of the Vipers in the chest, a wet crunching sound emanated from him; Li had crushed the soldier's chest plate and his rib cage. The unlucky soldier was thrown a few metres back and collided into a charred wall and ended up in a sitting position.

As for the last Viper, Li reached out and grabbed the terrorist's throat. The Neo-Viper uttered something; the Spartan pulled him closer to hear what he was saying.

"What are you?" the man coughed, he had just seen a massive armoured being eliminate his team within fifteen seconds.

Li didn't reply, instead he crushed the Viper's windpipe. The body went limp.

John was on the other end of the base, creating hell for those who stood in his way.

He sprinted to an admin building and activated the sonar function on his armour. It revealed two Neo-Vipers and four Crimson Guards taking up defensive positions behind desks and cabinets. The Spartan position himself in front of the door, and checked for any tripwire or anti-personnel mines, the sweep came up clean which meant no traps.

As John kicked down the door and rushed in, his adrenaline started pumping. He shot a Neo-Viper in the head and punched a Crimson Guard who was standing by the door, in his chest, the Elite soldier's ribs snapped as if they were nothing more than toothpicks

The Spartan's sonar revealed the remaining Crimson Guards hiding behind the desks, John fired a long burst into the tables, splintering the wooden surfaces and riddled the Cobra's with gun fire.

The remaining Neo-Viper rose from cover behind a table and prepared to fire. John then kicked a desk, which was sent crashing into the Viper and slamming him into the wall, but he was not yet beaten. The Viper struggled to recover and reach for his rifle which had landed on the table. John raised his HARM and fired three rounds into the Viper's chest; the rounds tore through the armour and soft tissue, smearing blood on the wall and table. The Cobra slumped forward and stopped moving.

The Spartan then moved back outside, his motion sensor was swarmed with angry red dots. He took one step further and was greeted by a hail of enemy fire. John dived into an alleyway as a rocket sailed over his head, only to be greeted by the sounds of a rumbling engine.

It was a heavily armoured Cobra technical, mounted on its roof is a machine gun. The vehicle lurched forward, it was clear to John what the driver attempted to do, and that was to run him over.

The gun opened fire and heavy rounds began to hammer John's shields, slowly but sure, his first shield layer was slowly being drained. The Spartan the aimed at the gunner and fired a few rounds, but then his counter read zero. There was no time to reload, John just slung the rifle onto a magnetic plate and un-holstered his M6C/SOCOM pistol. The Chief took aim and fired into the slits between the armour plates on the windscreen.

The slugs smashed through the windscreen, showering the occupants in glass and killed the driver. The vehicle then swerved and smashed into what was left of a barracks.

John then holstered his pistol, reloaded his rifle and turned his attention back to the remaining Cobras.

It took about another ten minutes before the only living Cobras were the wounded who were unable to fight, which meant a lot of blueshirts and incapacitated Crimson Guards. But there were no Neo-Vipers, it was obvious why, Neo-Vipers were tough, nano-enhanced and felt no pain, so the Spartans had to kill every last man because they wouldn't stop fighting.

The two Spartans then regrouped back at the command post.

"What's the plan John?" asked Li.

"I'll call Cortana, grab the router and the garrison's CO while you cover my back."

"Got it,"

Li quickly moved behind a stack of crates near the Command Post, while John headed in.

"Cortana, prepare a vehicle for dust off, we're done here," said John over the comlink.

"Copy, sending a Hornet to you position, and don't forget to get that router,"

"Okay,"

John walked over to the router, unhooked it and placed it in his pack. Then he turned to the unconscious CO and picked him up, it was like picking up an egg, so light and fragile.

The Spartan walked outside with the unconscious major slung over his left shoulder, and right in front of John and Li, was a waiting Hornet with a tinted cockpit. The two managed themselves onto the craft, with the Major strapped into a seat on the right while Li sits on the left and John would be sitting in the cockpit.

**XXxxXX**

Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Ripcord, Duke, Heavy Duty and Cover Girl had commando crawled their way through the blizzard, on the way, they noticed a large number of dead Cobra patrols. They reported their findings back to Hawk and continued on.

"Okay Joes," it was Hawk over the radio, "NATO forces are beginning the assault, be advised they have found numerous dead Cobra patrols, both Neo-Vipers and blueshirts."

"You think its Fourth Echelon, Scarlett?" asked Cover Girl.

"I doubt it, this isn't what they usually do," replied Scarlett.

In the distance, the Joes could hear the distinct sound of Challenger 2, Bradley LAVs and M1 Abrams opening fire, the assault had begun.

"There's alota smoke up ahead," whispered Ripcord.

"Too right mate," replied Heavy Duty.

"Joes, this is Hawk, NATO forces have informed me that resistance is lighter than expected, out."

Another ten minutes elapsed and the Joes managed to infiltrate the base, problem was, it was too easy. Infact, it was so easy that a mad drunk tooting on a Vuvuzela as loudly as humanly possible would have made it through unnoticed or unhindered.

"General," said Duke of the radio, "tell NATO to advance, there's no one here to fight."

The scene that awaited the Joes was absolute carnage, twisted metal, torn bodies and smouldering rubble was strewn everywhere.

"Damn," Ripcord uttered.

Ten minutes later, the base was in the hands of the Joes and NATO forces. Thirty minutes later, the base had been cleaned up, that is, all the wounded were taken prisoners.

Support structures were quickly built for the wounded, Hawk wanted to know who had hit the Cobras so badly, and he needed his best Joes to find out.

The wounded lay on stretchers while being treated by medics and watched over by armed guards.

The Joes moved to the healthiest looking Cobra, who is a technician.

"Mind telling us what happened here?" asked Duke in a stern voice.

The Cobra was of Caucasian descent, a bullet hole in his lower abdomen and a broken arm; he also had tired brown eyes, and brown hair. He looked a Duke and answered.

"This was never my fight, all I do is work at a desk and look at where it got me," the man laughed a pained laugh. He then coughed, "alright, I work in the admin buildings; it was like any other day really. Then in one moment the fuel dumps go off, at first I thought one of the planes might have crashed into the refuelling stations, but then the power stations were blown up, and so there was no more juice running. Then everything went downhill."

"And?"

"Barracks were blown up; mess hall was blown up, basically any buildings with anyone inside and any vehicles. I crawled out of my building alive, everyone I worked with were crushed to death. Outside I saw two armoured figures, the armour was the most advanced, sleek and fearsome looking thing I've ever seen. They cut so many of us down, as if it was like shooting fish in a barrel."

"Those two guys, what did they look like?" asked Scarlett.

"Their armour is white and grey; and they were huge. I saw they use Laser weapons, which they used to burn through the HISS tanks as if they were made of cardboard. They then left on a small turbofan/turbo jet engine VTOL aircraft with Major Johannes Strauss in their custody."

"Okay then," said Duke, processing the information.

**XXxxXX**

Later, back at the USS _Flagg_, in the briefing room Duke told Hawk what the Cobra technician had told him.

"So what you're saying is; that we have an unknown military corporation or branch out there that has better equipment than us, and had sent in two men to take out an entire base. And that they had laser weapons with them."

"Yes sir,"

"You couldn't make this stuff up," Hawk sighed, as he placed a hand on the back of his head.

"Sir, when we were combing the area for anything, we didn't find any foreign shell rounds, the calibre the attackers used in their weapons are much large than anything we have encountered before. It is possible these rounds are caseless or they simply collected the shells." Said Heavy Duty, "Autopsies revealed that some of the Cobras were killed via stab wounds to the throat and blunt trauma, we also have recovered a body of a Neo-Viper whose head was crushed, and turned to pulp from the neck up."

"A Neo-Viper got beheaded by having his head crushed?" asked Courtney.

Heavy Duty nodded.

"Whoever did this to Cobra, knew what they were doing down to the smallest detail. They were well equipped and packed a helluva lot of high grade explosives," said Flint.

"Any ideas on who could've done it?" asked Hawk.

"Black Ops or Deniable Ops," spoke Scarlett, "if two guys managed to take out an entire base in the way it was described. These guys would have to be extremely ruthless, calculative, creative and smart, however they did leave the wounded alive, which could mean that they're not heartless and have morals and ethics, but that could've been an order that they were issued."

"So to wrap things up," said Hawk, "we've got an unknown player who sends in two men who are equipped with the latest of the latest advanced technology to go blow up a Cobra base at its weak points and then bang out with the base's CO. Well, we're getting nowhere on this so we'll just have to wait. Dismissed everyone."

Scarlett was sitting in her quarters, reflecting on the meeting, two huge men, extremely disciplined of course, took out an entire Cobra base with relative ease. They wiped out the all of the Neo-Vipers and most of the Crimson Guards that were station there.

The redhead women then remembered the two huge men back at the restaurant in Manhattan; they looked so out of place and they possessed that aurora that only war veterans had. It was more than possible that these men were the ones who attacked the Cobra base.

Scarlett decided that she would inform everyone tomorrow, but for now, it was time for bed.

**XXxxXX**

_Ghost Raven…_

"State your name," John said coldly to Strauss who was strapped into a chair.

"Major Johannes Strauss," he answered with a slight German accent.

"Mind telling us why you had over a regiment of troops at your base then?" asked Li stoically.

Strauss was done for, and he knew it, he knew that he was exhausted, he knew that the Spartans were going to use every means necessary to extract the information they wanted out of him. They managed to wipe out an entire garrison of Cobra soldiers by executing a well formulated plan, which meant that they are well equipped for anything and were going to get the truth out of him sooner or later. He could lie, but then the Spartans would find out later and who knows what horrible journey lay ahead. He might as well save himself the pain and answer truthfully.

"It was a ruse to attract the Joes, then once the Joes had entered the base, I would use any means necessary to kill them. It was well within reach, but then you came."

"And ruined everything," interjected Li.

Strauss nodded.

"We'll hand him over to the Joes tomorrow morning," John said to Li over the conlink.

"Gift wrap and all?" asked Cortana.

"Gift wrap and all," answered John, "with love from UNSC ONI Section III, Spartan IIs."

**XXxxXX**

**A/N: There, it is done.**

…

**I still have plenty of ideas left for this story.**

**Anyway please review and make me happy. Its common courtesy.**

**Kudos to you all, and see you next time.**


	4. This is the start of something

**Hello guys, I have decided to change my pen name, into something more memorable. A couple of my friends forget 5thHierarch, so it has been changed to Overwatch, (and huzzah at that too, took me awhile to find a suitable pen name).**

**XXxxXX**

John sat on one of the sofas on _Ghost Raven_; the Spartan was a bit tired and decided to take a nap, it would be sometime before he and Li would reach their destination.

Thanks to some recent Intel gathering by Cortana, that is, hacking. The Spartans discovered that the Joes' base of operations was on a US Aircraft Carrier, the USS _Flagg_. The plan was to throw Strauss into a pod, which is on a Pelican dropship. The Pelican would do a quick flyby over the deck of the _Flagg_, drop off its prisoner, and then bang out before any fighters could intercept it.

It was a "daring" plan, considering that they could lose a pelican… out of the tens the currently have. Oh and lose the present.

As John eased back into the sofa, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. His dreams were peaceful and pleasant, free of the haunted memories like every Spartan. Any Spartan-IIs had nightmares, no matter how much conditioning a soldiers receives, nightmares always lurk. John was no exception; most of his nightmares revolve around the loss or injury of a squad mate, the ones that haunted him the most were the injuries of Linda and Kelly, and the death of Sam.

John managed to get a few hours of sleep until Li knocked on his visor gently.

"John?" Li asked.

"Yeah?"

"We're here; I already got the present gift wrapped and ready to go."

John instantly got off the couch and stood up.

"Let's do this."

The two Spartans walked to the bridge of _Ghost Raven_, Strauss had already been placed into a pod that was attached to a pelican dropship.

The Prowler was flying low over the ocean, before coming to a halt. It was now the Pelican's turn to finish off the last leg. Cortana would be remote piloting the Pelican, which was obviously a modified version for stealth. The Pelican would fly until it is right above the USS _Flagg_ and drop off its cargo.

**XXxxXX**

USS _Flagg…_

Cover Girl awoke from her sleep; the Joe got changed into her regular fatigues and then headed to the canteen to grab a hot chocolate. It was still night and cold; her watch said it was two thirty in the morning.

Courtney held the mug and sipped on the hot beverage as she stood on the balcony. A couple of fighter jets were landing and taking off every now and then. The deck crew repaired some of the aircrafts while others ate something while on break.

It was basically the same as every other night.

But then her eyes spotted something on the flight deck. The air, it was shimmering, similar to how the air would be when there was a heat source. Something was venting heat.

Cover Girl rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't daisied. Then something materialised out of the air, it was a military green coloured VTOL, but a Jet VTOL like the Harrier or the F-35, but it was not a fighter, it looked more like a transport craft. On the side, it had the emblem of an Eagle on top of a globe with its wings outstretched, beneath were the letters _UNSC_ scrolled out.

The VTOL touched down.

Courtney stood from the balcony and watched everything unfold.

Some of the crewman on the deck instantly jumped behind cover and drew their sidearm. Other Joes were moving up from the lower levels with their rifles aimed and ready at the VTOL.

The VTOL slowly touched down, it looked like it was dropping something off.

"Attention unidentified aircraft, you are on a US Aircraft Carrier, come out with your hands up," said a voice over the speakers, "you have five seconds to comply before we neutralise you."

Some of the AA guns had swung towards the deck and locked on to the VTOL. They were Vulcan miniguns, which were absolutely devastating on vehicles; these weapons were mounted on tank busters, and could easily blast an aircraft out of the sky.

"Five."

It looked like the VTOL had released something.

It was a crate… gift wrapped to be exact, with a giant blue ribbon that was tied into a giant bow.

Courtney pressed the earpiece so she could hear the encrypted channels of the Joes.

"It's dropped something off, shit. It could be a bomb."

"Alert, we need bomb squads on deck right now."

"Open fire!"

Some of the rapid response teams who had stingers, let fly with their missile launchers. The projectiles streaked from their launchers, leaving a trail of thick smoke behind them. But then the missiles exploded in mid-flight.

_That VTOL has anti-missile defence systems_, thought Courtney.

The missiles detonate harmlessly, showering the deck in small debris.

"Do not fire on that package, if it's a bomb, it's going to explode if we hit it." said Hawk, Courtney heard him through the comms.

"Copy that sir, all units, take down that VTOL. DO NOT fire on that crate, I repeat, DO NOT fire on that crate." said the operator.

The Vulcan miniguns spooled into action and unleashed a hellish volume of fire. But by then, the VTOL had already taken off, the Vulcans still continued to hammer the VTOL until it was out of range. It looked like a lot of rounds managed to score hits on the aircraft. But how it was still flying, was a bit of a surprise to Courtney.

What took her back a bit further was how fast the VTOL executed its objective, it was in and out in less than thirty seconds.

It meant that the VTOL was heavily armoured, and had a lot of power to move under all that weight.

Cover Girl, descended down to the flight deck with her mug still in hand.

The VTOL was gone, everything went quiet again.

As she reached the crate, a perimeter was formed by the Joes.

"Cover Girl," yelled Scarlett, she was wearing the usual combat armour, "over here."

Courtney walked over to her fellow Joe, who was leaning against a Black Hawk helicopter.

"Stay here, let the bomb squad take a look at it, then we go in."

Cover Girl nodded.

"Where's Duke, or Ripcord?"

"They're coming up," replied Scarlett.

Five minutes passed, and the two were joined by Ripcord, Duke and Heavy Duty.

They waited for another fifteen minutes before a bomb squad member walked over to General Hawk.

"The crate is clean sir, scans show no bombs inside, but there is a person."

"Alright, good job soldier," Hawk then signalled over his Joes, "crate's clean, let's take a look."

They walked closer to the package and examined it closely.

"Hmm, gift wrapped," said Cover Girl, "aww they shouldn't have."

Ripcord then reached for a card that dangled on the side and read it aloud.

"To: G.I. Joes, please handle him with care, he's Major Johannes Strauss, the CO of that Cobra base you raided. Sorry we beat you guys to the punch. From: UNSC ONI Section III, Spartan-IIs."

He then gave a low whistle.

The Joes opened the crate carefully, just to make sure there aren't any nasty surprises waiting for them. Once it was pried open, the found a man bound and gagged.

**XXxxXX**

_Interrogation room…_

"Mind running over that again for us?" asked Scarlett as she paced around the room.

Strauss complied.

"These men who attacked the base," said Strauss with a slight accent, "they're bigger and better than you."

"Anything else about them?" asked Duke.

"They wear very advance sets of armour, far superior to anything I've ever seen. They took me onto an aircraft, some kind of heavy transport. Didn't see any of the crew, online those two men."

…

Outside the interrogation room, the Joes talked.

"Well this confirms it," said Duke, "two heavily armed combatants, take out an entire base in a few minutes. Leaving behind a trail of destruction and mutilated bodies."

"What do we do?" asked Ripcord.

"What can we do?" replied Hawk, "we don't even know these people. All we can do is keep our eyes peeled."

"I really want to meet these people," stated Cover Girl.

…

Courtney and Shana sat at the cafeteria, in their normal booth, eating waffles.

"What do you think Scarl?" asked Cover Girl.

"About what?"

"The attack?"

"I'm not too sure, I really doubt that it's Fourth Echelon."

"Why?"

"Last time I checked, Fourth Echelon prefers to stay away from other organisations unless its joint ops. Every time when they plan a mission, they consult with other allied branches to make sure each they're not going to be disturbed or that they're not interfering with anyone else."

"So, basically, make sure everyone stays out of each other's way," said Cover Girl.

Scarlett nodded.

"Though the way how the attack was carried out, suggests Fourth Echelon did do it."

"So Shock and Awe?"

"Not quite, they use stealth and precision, followed by shock and awe. So sneak in, prepare the trap our ambush, and then spring it. So with this attack, these guys infiltrated the base, planted explosives. Detonate them, and then mop up."

**XXxxXX**

_Manor…_

John and Li were watching CNN on TV in the theatre room.

"So, how do you think those snakes are doing?" asked Li.

"Probably recovering in shock," replied John as he leaned back into the chair.

"I can't believe we managed to pull that stunt off on the _Flagg_."

"I can't believe that the Pelican managed to survive."

"The bird was shredded. But still operational."

The holotank started to ping. John tapped in a few commands into his tacpad to let the message through.

"Hey Chief," said Cortana as her avatar appeared.

"Cortana," replied John, "what do you have for us?"

"I've been analysing some data from that Cobra base, nothing much, just a couple of profiles, and also we need to find a source of income, instead of just wiring money."

"How about electronics?" suggested Li, "manufacturing electronic goods."

"Sounds like a good idea," said John, "but where do we start?"

"We could do things like creating video editing programs and computer manufacturing," said Li.

"So you guys want to do an electronics company right?" said Cortana.

Both Spartans nodded.

"You two, want to jump into a market that is dominated by other companies?"

The Spartans nodded again.

"We'll just improve the technology they have," said John.

"That might work," pondered Cortana.

"Okay then," said John, "Cortana, prep a few engineers to come down here, Li and I are going to go shopping."

"What do you plan on doing?" asked the AI.

"We can't use UNSC tech for financial needs," answered the Master Chief, "it's illegal, so our best option is to upgrade already available tech."

"Very well then, I'll get the forms ready, Chief."

…

The two Spartans dressed in smart casual clothing with thick coats, before the stepped out into the winter night. This time, they decided to leave the Audi behind and selected a black BMW X5.

The engine roared to life and the Spartans departed from the estate and drove back into New York City.

Once again, the two found themselves in the bustling nightlife as they moved from store to store, examining and purchasing a couple of electronic goods. This was a tedious task, as Li and John had to buy one or two goods from a store, head back to the X5 to deposit all, then go search for another store to buy from, as so to not arouse suspicion.

"You know John," said Li, "I think it would have been easier if we had ordered online."

"Point, but online would take a while," replied John, "Remember, we're buying small products, not Computers. Computers we buy online."

"If you say so, oh yeah, what are we going to do for dinner?"

"Order pizza."

"Sounds goods."

Once the Spartans had finished their shopping, John drove the X5 to a pizzeria. As the two stepped out of the vehicle, they received numerous glances, just like before.

Except this time, John's skin had a more natural skin tone.

"So, what should we get?" asked Li as he pushed his glasses up.

"Four meatlovers?"

"Deal."

The two cued up, though Li noticed that a large number of patrons were glancing at them, the women in particular.

"Is it just me, or are we attracting a lot of attention?" queried Li.

"We're seven feet tall, and solid muscle," smirked John, "what do you expect?"

"Thought so," said Li dryly, "well as long as we stay away from bars and clubs, we won't be bothered, I hope."

"Li, we'll be fine."

Soon it was the Spartans' turn to order.

"Hello, how can I help you?" asked the young woman behind the counter.

"Hi," responded John, "can I get four large meatlovers pizza please."

"Four large meatlovers, sure thing," said the cashier as she entered the order, "can I get a name please?"

"John."

"Okay then, that'll be forty dollars."

John handed the money.

"Thank you, you're pizza will be ready in twenty minutes."

The Chief gave a curt smile before finding a seat. The wall mounted LCD TV caught the attention of the two Spartans. The news caster was talking about the current crisis in the middle east, specifically Libya.

"After heavy fighting this week, Rebels with the aid of NATO air support have managed to press their advantage into the few remaining strongholds of loyalist forces. Fires and anti-craft light the night sky while sporadic gunfire dominates the streets. There have been reports of Cobra presence in the area, but so far are unconfirmed."

The news report soon ended and switched to something else.

"On a related incident, Cobra forces have conducted another raid on outlying settlements in Africa and Asia. It is believed that they are kidnapping people for indoctrination or slavery. The Chinese government have begun deploying troops to protect their provinces. However, some African nations have ill-equipped armies and are asking aid from Private Military Corporations and Developed Nations."

"Looks like Cobra's got a grip on the poor areas," commented Li.

"We'll deal with them soon."

…

"Order for John."

The Spartan then went up to pick the pizza boxes.

"Need help their?" asked Li.

John handed Li two boxes.

"Let's go."

The Spartans headed back to the X5 and drove back to the manor.

"So, we're actually going to establish an electronics company," stated Li.

"That's the plan."

As John and Li settled down in the dining room to have dinner, Cortana appeared on the holotank.

"Well guys, I managed to find a suitable plot land for manufacturing. It's an abandoned factory, it's layouts match perfectly for electronics manufacturing, all we need to do, is renovate the place."

"Sounds good," said John, "make sure you fabricate a company that's doing the _renovations_, well move in and set up, but we'll have the HQ here, so that we can reduce the chance of the engineers being exposed."

"Alright then, in the meantime, I'll find more Cobra bases for you guys to hit."

**XXxxXX**

It was spring now, the weather was still cold, but the snow was gone, and colour started to return back to the trees, which was further accentuated by the sunlight.

The renovations were completed within a month of continuous work from the sentinels. As John and Li looked around, the huge complex, which sat on a twenty hectare block, was now ultra-modern. It was a great improvement from what it used to be, and that was a car factory.

"Part one, done," said Li, "time for part two, innovation."

"That part is done," said Cortana over the comlink, "remember that tablet you guys bought?"

"Which one?" asked John.

"The 4PCpad."

"Yeah."

"The Engineers came up with a more efficient design, which is more powerful yet saves space which allowed more room for the batteries."

"Is the look different?"

"Yes default colour scheme is a deep matte grey."

"Did they develop an OS or do we have to do partnering?"

Cortana gave a light chuckle.

"I know you guys aren't too keen on conferences, so I designed the OS. And if I may say so myself, it's a whole lot prettier and glitch free, I've also created numerous themes for the OS to give the user options."

"Sounds good," said Li, "so have you sent these to beta-testers and critics?"

"Yes, they said they'll get back to me next week, I'm sure that they will be thoroughly happy."

"Okay, talk to you later," said John. The link was then cut.

The front of the complex had a fountain with a sign that said _ForerunTech _and neatly trimmed trees and hedges. The building was seven storeys tall, with the bottom two serving as the manufacturing section, while the four upper levels served as areas for designing, development, admin, accounting and marketing departments.

Its design was tall white pillars, glass panels and a curving shape accompanied by a green landscape.

Of course, no one worked at ForerunTech yet, but that was soon to change as Li and John would be interview hundreds of applicants soon. Apparently these people were all recent Uni graduates, with fresh ideas, of course some were older, and they would serve as project lead and admins because of their experience.

The idea was that John and Li would pitch some ideas, in which Research and Development would design and develop. The prototype would then be tested, and sent to the Engineers back at the manor for refining. The design will then go back to RnD so that they could take another look at it and see if they wanted to add anything, if so, the later design would be sent back to the Engineers. If not, it would then be sent to beta-testers, if the beta-testers are happy with the product. It is then sent to outside critics and Marketing. Then the green light would be given to the manufacturers to produce the product.

**XXxxXX**

_New York City, Manhattan…_

Breaker, Mainframe, Cover Girl and Scarlett were currently off duty, and decided to have a break. First it was a movie at five in the afternoon, followed by a trip to an electronics store.

Breaker and Mainframe were drooling by the time the four reached a tech store.

"Didn't you guys enjoy the movie?" asked Courtney with a small grin, "I mean, it had everything, a thought provoking plot, sci-fi, explosions, and so on."

"Yeah, that's nothing compared to this," said Breaker.

"Damn straight, Abel," said Mainframe, "that's why we're pre-ordering."

"Huh, I thought you guys would've ordered online," said Scarlett.

"Well how are we going to get that delivered?"

"Good point, but what's with all the hype?"

"It's the FT1-Netbook, made by ForerunTech," answered Breaker, "it's the most powerful Netbook currently on the market, dual ten-inch touch screens, and its battery life lasts for twenty four hours when running all out. It also has a unique operating system, which critics say is easy to use and brilliant."

"Twenty four hours running all out?" Scarlett then gave a low whistle, "that's impressive."

"Downside is that they made the baby a solid skin, so you'd probably end up destroying the thing when taking it apart," said Mainframe.

"They don't want anyone to know their trade secret," added Breaker.

"When is it being released?" asked Cover Girl.

"At first it was going to be a month," said Breaker, "but since so many people pre-ordered it, the dates been pushed back to two months, so that they can make enough."

"How big is ForerunTech anyway?" asked Cover Girl.

"Not that big," Breaker answered, "they only have a factory and a HQ on the same estate near here."

_Interesting, small time Company, makes a product and will soon swim with the big fish_, thought Scarlett.

"When were they founded?"

"A month ago," replied Mainframe, "wired isn't it? A Company just pops up a month ago with no partnerships, and starts making top of the line products."

_Strange indeed_, pondered the redhead.

"You think it could be a Cobra front?" asked Cover Girl.

Scarlett shook her head.

"The counter beans behind the desks a thorough, they check everything. This is legit, if it is a Cobra front, the counter beans would've found out. ForerunTech could've been hiding in the shadows, waiting for a good time to come onto the market. Companies do that all the time."

"So, ForerunTech is legit right?" asked Mainframe, "because I really, really want to buy the Netbook."

Scarlett nodded.

**XXxxXX**

_USS Flagg…_

It had been a weird past few weeks, Scarlett thought, sitting in her quarters. First it was the two men at the restaurant, followed by the Precision Shock and Awe attack on a Cobra base, accomplished by two men (well, that was what the report says), followed by a gift from the UNSC ONI Section III Spartan-IIs, and finally the appearance of ForerunTech and its soon to be, business boom.

Scarlett didn't believe in coincidences, she always felt the need to trace and verify everything. It was what made her an excellent asset to the CIA, and right now, she wanted to do some snooping around.

She turned on her laptop and waited for the system to come back online. Scarlett then went on the internet and looked into ForerunTech, apparently they already had a website up and running.

_Neat page_, Scarlett thought, admiring the beautifully designed site. She dug through the site's archives and looked up the heads. Their spokesperson and manager is a woman named Cortana Halsey, who, form the photo, looked quite young and striking.

As Scarlett scrolled down the page her eyes widened, it was the two men she saw from the restaurant, Johannes (John) Sev Clover and Li Yuan.

_No they can't be businessmen, they're more like soldiers._

She then decided to run a check on the men's background; it said that they completed Master's Degree in Business and Mathematics.

"But why an electronics company?" muttered Shana.

As she dug deeper, the files revealed that the two men went to the most prestigious academics schools, and shared an interest in technology.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why they're like Spec Ops."

She remembered how the behaved back at the restaurant, disciplined, fully aware, precise movements.

The Joe pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath and then went back to snooping.

Shana then decided to look up the men's address; the search came up with a high-end estate. Not to mention a big one. As she filtered her way through the files, it was soon revealed to her that the house was hidden behind evergreens, and that there had been massive orders for electronic equipment.

Also, the men's profile description was very similar to the accounts of Cobra survivors on the attack at their base in Germany.

Scarlett's intuition was literally screaming at her by now. Something was up, any normal person would shrug this aside, but Shana knew better, hell, she had uncovered a terrorist attack with less evidence than this.

However, she'd need clearance to look deeper and to continue her investigation. She had a gut feeling that John and Li were involved with the attacks.

Scarlett had to share this with someone, and the first logical choice, was Cover Girl.

**XXxxXX**

Cortana watched as her friends adapted to civilian life. She was happy for the two Spartans. Her recent scans had picked up massive energy outputs in North Africa. Her recent recons have uncovered numerous forward operating bases near Libyia.

The AI could only guess it was Cobra, with all the turmoil the country and the surrounding regions are in. Cobra could just walk right in and takeover or shape the country in any way it wanted. It could offer deals, with a string attached of course. Or it could come in full force; however that wouldn't be too smart considering that NATO had air superiority in the area. And an act like that could cause a full military confrontation. Obviously a lot of under handing and black ops would have to be used in this situation.

**XXxxXX**

**Well thank you for the support and wonderful reviews so far guys.**

**To DarrenrEal**

**I will include the Spartans on Onyx at some point.**

**(Funny, I read one of Freedom Guard's stories, it was a Vandread crossover, and it also had the Spartans on Onyx as well. Now this is totally coincidental).**

**The reason why I won't include the Spartans on Onyx yet is because I've already got a concept plot laid out so far and it just wouldn't work having the Spartans on Onyx in it now. So I will include them once I've finished my current plot. Another reason is that there will be a lot of character juggling, which would definitely overwhelm the readers. This also means that I'm keeping the number of characters to a minimum.**

**If anyone is wondering why I didn't have Jorge, well who's to say I won't have him later? (hint, hint – well that's if you want to.)**

**Now, when I do include the Spartans on Onyx, I will have a John/Kelly pairing, that's a promise (there just isn't enough of those pairings in the Halo story, and the thing is, this pairing is canon, you'd think there'd be more writers writing about the two, rather than John/Cortana).**

…

**To **_**Planetarycupcake**_

**The M6C/SOCOM is a stealth weapon, and serves as an excellent sidearm. The M6D isn't suitable for stealth.**

**Now the MA5B is very inaccurate, that is why I decided to throw in the HARM-001, something that could take down a Brute with just a quick burst.**

…

**Next instalment will be more action pact. I've worn myself out on my Crysis and Mass Effect Crossover.**

**Until next time, Kudos.**


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